Construction on New Fertilizer Plant Begins

August 21, 2018

Central Region Cooperative was formed on August 1, 2017. In the months leading up to the formation of our new cooperative, much discussion was had on the need for a shared agronomy asset. Since then, we have had conversations with neighboring cooperatives and employed multiple feasibility and building vendors to understand how to best approach this need in a fiduciarily responsible way. We are moving forward with the construction of a greenfield agronomy center in Fairfax, Minnesota with groundbreaking that began August 21, 2018.

There are a few givens in this scenario: We know we need another fertilizer asset. We know this new plant will replace several worn out facilities which will be closed. We also know that this asset will need to be a strong backup for the entire agronomy division in the case of an unforeseen circumstance at our Sleepy Eye or Buffalo Lake plant locations. Our goal, in everything we do, is to improve our speed and serviceability to meet the needs of our producers.

The specs on the plant in Fairfax include:

250 ton Sackett/Waconia tower and a 4 ton HIM mixer

Future rail receiving ability

Storage capacity of 17,015 tons, including several large micro bins

Additional capabilities for future buildout or changes to plant capabilities

Full-service chemical warehouse which includes two drive through load-out bays, ability to mix hot loads on site, and bulk and packaged chemicals

Capacity for 180,000 gallons of liquid fertilizer

Seed warehouse with bulk seed, treater and load-out area

Another given in any project is that a timeline is never guaranteed. The following is a projection of timeline from the contractors of our new facility:

Groundbreaking: August 21, 2018

Construction: September 2018 – March 2019

Receiving product: March 2019

Retail capability: April 2019

Chemical and seed warehouse completion date of mid-April/May

Thank you for your patience as we have conducted necessary diligence on this project. We look forward to serving your agronomy needs this fall and putting our new plant into action to service you this spring.